BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Amari Cooper is less than 100% but he’s not allowing that to keep him off the field.
“Ideally, you want to play through something if you can,” Cooper said Tuesday. “I have always been that type of player. If I can fight through something, I am going to do my best to do it.”
Cooper, who was limited to two catches on seven targets for 42 yards in Sunday’s 23-10 loss at Cincinnati, is dealing with a sore hip related to a core muscle injury suffered late in practice last Thursday.
“It is getting better,” Cooper said. “It is just a part of playing football in this league. Obviously, it is a hinderance anytime you are not 100 percent, but you just fight through it and try to be available for your team.”
Cooper leads the Browns with 63 catches, 874 receiving yards and seven touchdowns this season and he isn’t sure if the injury will require surgery in the offseason.
“I don’t even really want to think that far ahead,” Cooper said. “I just want to take it day by day and then we will cross that bridge when we get there.”
JOK to IR – The Browns placed linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah on injured reserve meaning with four games left, his season is over.
“Obviously losing JOK is tough,” cornerback Greg Newsome II said. “He is one of the best players on the defense. He brings a bunch of energy, tackling machine out there, so there’s no replacing a guy like that either.”
Owusu-Koramoah, who appeared in 11 games and recorded 70 tackles, four passes defensed and two forced fumbles this season, suffered an injury to his left foot Sunday at Cincinnati.
“With JOK, still a young player. Played at a high level for us,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said. “Very productive making plays sideline to sideline and those type of things. Always has room to grow. I think he can continue to get better. I think there are areas that he can continue to improve. Disappointed in this case with this injury, but like a lot of guys, I know he will bounce back.”
Owusu-Koramoah is the fourth linebacker lost this season due to injury. Anthony Walker, Jacob Phillips and Sione Takitaki previously were put on IR with season-ending injuries.
Deion Jones, Jordan Kunaszyk and Tony Fields II are likely to be the starters going forward.
“Honestly, it is all hands on deck,” Stefanski said. “We have to work a bunch of guys in there. [They] all have played and can play well for us, but we are going to make sure that everybody is ready to go.”
QB questions for Ravens – The Browns began their week of preparation not knowing which Ravens quarterback they’ll face Saturday.
Lamar Jackson likely won’t play due to a knee injury. Backup Tyler Huntley is in concussion protocol and Anthony Brown replaced him Sunday.
“They are very fortunate to have the guys they have,” Stefanski said. “Lamar as we all know is great. A former MVP, he is great. He is great throwing it and great running it. He is a great, great player. We have played him. We know what he is capable of. We have played No. 2 Huntley. We know what he is capable of. Just a really, really good football player. Hard to get on the ground, whether they run him by design or he is scrambling. Accurate with his throws. Really an impressive quarterback. Then the young kid [Anthony Brown], did a nice job. Got in there, operated, got them into their runs, did a nice job and threw the ball well.”
The Ravens, who like the Browns did not practice Tuesday, estimated both Jackson and Huntley as DNPs on their injury report.
While the situation might seem challenging for a defense, Newsome disagreed.
“I wouldn’t say it is too much of a challenge,” Newsome said. “I feel like their quarterbacks all kind of do around the same thing. They are not going to really change the offense as much as we have seen in the past. We played them last year when they didn’t have Lamar and kind of kept the offense pretty similar. I wouldn’t say it is too big of a challenge. At the end of the day, we just have to whatever the gameplan is do our job and try to be as successful as we can.”
Injury report – DNP: WR David Bell (thumb), DE Jadeveon Clowney (rest/ankle), WR Amari Cooper (rest/hip), DE Myles Garrett (rest/shoulder); LIMITED: S John Johnson III (knee), TE David Njoku (knee), CB Denzel Ward (shoulder); FULL: C Hjalte Froholdt (ankle), CB AJ Green (toe), DE Chase Winovich (knee)
**Tuesday’s injury report was an estimate since the Browns did not hold a full practice.
Up next – Practice Wednesday